Mar 28, 2022
Shamo is a really hard sell for me. You get this duality in story writing where, on one side, you feel like he's meant to be completely ostracized and despised as a human being, where even the possibility of pitying Ryo is depreciated. He's shown to be self-righteous and delusional in his mental gymnastics of having murdered his parents, yet, on the other side, the author wants us to feel for Ryo even if he shows no real emotional evolution in his character arc, there is no progress in repentance or his internal processing of guilt. The reader is served fac-simile redemption moments with no
...
substance behind them. The manga lacks, overall, real realism (forgive the oxymoron) and offers fake realism: for a manga that wants to present a really difficult character with very adult themes and alleged gray POVs, it sticks an awful lot to black and white perspectives with very little to attenuate the abrasive shallowness of its takes. It reads like a straightedge straight-A student's fantasy of what living a morally challenging life is like.
It's funny because Shamo references 2 other works that own up to their concepts better than it does:
- Musashi/Vagabond: more nuanced and detailed about the guilt and mental struggle to live with murder in pursuit of strength and ego.
- Baki: more bonkers and nutso ridiculous macho power-creeping villainous characters, committed to the silliness and the exaggeration.
It may be why it's so frustrating since it tries to tackle a lot and comes close to developing interesting story points, however it do so very mildly or 180s the wrong way.
[light spoilers]
The series is reset completely at random intervals, with the last arcs being ridiculously uninteresting, out of place and mis-paced. You forget Ryo's presence in the story, following either a DBZ-trope shonen villain OR an infuriatingly "lore invalidating" duo, reminiscent of a bad Ichi the Killer ripoff, as they negate any pre-established boundary in the series and are allowed to pull the dumbest manoeuvres unchecked by the reality of Shamo's universe.
The Toma arc is set up with a nice premise and its "ruining a hero" mandate is enticing for a story about a tormented villain archetype, however I feel like it didn't pay out as it should have -- we're left with an abrupt end without a real grasp on the consequences of the arc, its lacking the fallen saviour complex POV.
The end scene as a concept is good in my opinion for its mundane qualities, it solidifies this "realist" aspect the manga had been struggling to bring forth the whole time.
Art's good for the most part.
Still enjoyed the first half because I have goblin brain syndrome and fighting scenes tickle its fancy + it happens in a restrained environment and that also hits my special spot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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